History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 25

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 25

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Charles J. Hubbell was but eleven years of age when he began learning the wood-turner's trade, and when he had attained the age of sixteen he went to Chicago and worked at his trade there for one year, subsequently spend- ing three years with the Taylor Chair Com- pany at Bedford, Ohio, after which he worked at his trade for two years in Detroit, Michi- gan, and then locating at Kent, he was em- ployed with the A. L. Shaddock Chair Com- pany until the 14th of February, 1893. Com-

ing then to Ravenna, he served as the fore- man of the Buckeye Chair Company for two years, and then, with two of his brothers, Melvin J. and Walter H., he engaged in the grocery business, but in May of 1904 he sold his interest in the store to his brothers, and on the 16th of June following bought from the American Cereal Company the grain elevator which he is now operating. He handles all kinds of grain and feed, also does custom grinding, and his elevator has a capacity of forty thousand bushels.

Mr. Hubbell married, on the 22d of Feb- ruary, 1889, Elizabeth A. James, who was born in Syracuse, New York, a daughter of William and Mary (Thomas) James, natives of Wales. Their two children are Susie G. and Harold L. Mr. Hubbell upholds the prin- ciples of the Republican party, and he has served one term as a member of the city coun- cil of Ravenna. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and of the Church of Christ.

ROBERT BRATTEN .-- The late Robert Bratten was one of the best known residents of Ash- tabula county, revered and honored for his true worth of character, and the name which he bore is an honored one in this community. He was born in Shaftsbury, Vermont, June 10, 1823, but as a boy of ten he came with his par- ents, Robert and Hulda (Knowlton) Bratten, and their family to Ohio, locating at Brecks- ville, in Cuyahoga county. This family num- bered six sons, David, Robert, Harry, Timo- thy, died when eight years old, Alonzo, died when young, and Joseph. David spent his life in Brecksville as a farmer, and died there when about eighty years of age. Joseph, a Civil war soldier, died in 1903, in New Lyme township, Ashtabula county, where he had lived since before the war. Harry had come to this vicinity before Robert, in about 1845 or 1846, and in 1867 bought the farm now owned by his daughter, Mrs. John Houser. Here he lived and died, passing away in March of 1898, at the age of seventy-two. His wife, nee Harriet Beckley, from Dover, in Cuya- hoga county, preceded him in death twenty years, the mother of their six children : Ellen, who married Levi Wait and died at the age of thirty-five years; Adelbert, who was killed by a falling tree at the age of thirteen ; Sally, the

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HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE

wife of Samuel Houser ; Rosaline, the wife of John Houser ; Loren, who was killed by a train at the age of thirty, and Adaline, who died at the age of ten.

Robert Bratten, when he had attained the age of thirty years, brought the family from Brecksville to Ashtabula township, the family then consisting of his father, mother and two sisters, Lydia and Sally, and after the death of his parents, at the ages of seventy-two and ninety-six, respectively, his sisters remained with him, neither having ever married. Lydia died at the age of sixty-eight years, and Sally died in 1909, some eight weeks after the death of her brother Robert, she being then eighty-eight years of age. Robert Brat- ten passed away in death on the 30th of May, 1909, when he had reached the eighty- sixth milestone on life's journey. To his orig- inal farm of 204 acres on Lake Erie he added until it contained about 500 acres, and he also owned 150 acres in New Lyme township and half a section in Nebraska. He continued to cultivate his land until past sixty, and after- ward divided his vast estate among his nieces and nephews, but continued to live at his old home, now the property of Mrs. Samuel Houser. Ernest Bratten also received a part of the homestead, as well as the niece, Rosa- line, now the wife of John Houser. During the last fifteen or eighteen years of his life Robert Bratten lived retired. He was a devout Christian, a great Bible student, and his name is revered in the community where he lived and labored for so many years.

John Houser was born in Ashtabula town- ship, Ashtabula county, April 22, 1856, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Sindlinger ) Houser, both from Germany. They came to this coun- try in their early lives and were married, in Ashtabula county, and at their homestead on the Middle road they spent their lives and died, the mother when sixty-eight years of age. Their family numbered the following children : Samuel; Kate, who died when young; John; Elizabeth, the wife of Almon Seager, of Ash- tabula township; Philip, of the same place ; Julia, the wife of Ernest Bratten, of Ashta- bula township; and one who died when young. John Houser married Rosaline Bratten on De- cember 23, 1883, and their seven children are: John, Ralph, Harriet, Mary, Florence, Harley and Hugh, all at home with their parents with the exception of the oldest son, who is a ma- chinist in Cleveland.

LEANDER BARTHOLOMEW, of Harpersfield, is a native of Harpersfield township, born Jan- uary 16, 1824, a mile and a half south of Geneva. He is a son of Benjamin D. and Lovina (Potter) Bartholomew, both natives of Vermont. Benjamin D. Bartholomew came to Ohio with his father when two years of age; they came from Buffalo on the ice, landing north of Cowle's creek, March 3, 1800, p. m., and camped there over night. The father had to wade out, and lead the horses over a gap be- tween the ice and shore, on a bridge made of sleigh boxes. In the morning, the ice was gone across the lake. The father, Daniel, was a son of Joseph Bartholomew. Daniel Bartholo- mew was routed out to go to Sandusky with others to head off the British, but sent his son Benjamin, although at the time he was but fourteen years of age; the father was a very fleshy man. Benjamin went up to Sandusky and came back at once, thinking the British had returned to Canada, but they had not. One boy of the party, Enoch Barnum, had his left arm and part of his nose shot off by the acci- dental discharge of a gun.

The Bartholomew family settled on the Har- persfield road, and Daniel, who died in middle life, when his son Benjamin was but sixteen years of age, was buried in the old burying ground. Benjamin Bartholomew spent the last years of his life in Geneva, and was help- less the last year before his death. He died at the age of eighty-four years, and his house is the present home of his son Leander. His wife, who was born in 1800, came to Buffalo with her parents when twelve years of age, and twelve years later they came to Harpers- field, to the old Clyde furnace. She died at the age of seventy-eight years. They had three sons and four daughters, namely : Lemuel D., a merchant living; at Charlevoix, Michigan ; Mary Edilla Dikeman, now aged eighty-two years, lives at Geneva; Leander, of Harpers- field ; and Dexter, Elzada, Lovisa and Lovina.

Leander Bartholomew is a public-spirited citizen, and interested in public affairs. He married, at the age of twenty-four years, Cal- phurina, adopted daughter of Judge Jonathan Gregory, who at the time of her marriage was nineteen years old, and they had six children, of whom only two are now living. Mrs. Barth- olomew died March 7, 1909, after living with her husband sixty-one years, and they lived on the farm now occupied him for fifty-eight years. The oldest child to die was William, who was twenty-one years of age. Valda R.

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lives at South Bend, Indiana, and Hattie mar- ried William Beeman and resides with her father. Mr. and Mrs. Beeman have five chil- dren, namely: Nina, wife of Ralph Tyler, of Geneva; Clara, wife of Charles Robinson, of Geneva ; Calphurina, Luella and Leander.

Leander Bartholomew is the oldest person now living in Harpersfield who was born there, and has ontlived all other male members of the family except Colonel Riley, who died at the age of ninety years. He has seen and can re- member seven generations of his family, from his great-grandfather and great-grandmother Potter to his own great-grandchildren, and also seven generations on his father's side as well. At one time the Bartholomew family owned a large part of Harpersfield, but now there are only a few of the family living in the vicinity. Mr. Bartholomew has been a Repub- lican since the inception of the party, as was his father and his son. He has never been in enjoyment of very robust health, but has ever been temperate in his habits, never has used tobacco, and but very little liquor. For fifty years he has not failed to be up in the morning in time to see the sun rise. He is a man of in- telligence and good judgment, and his conver- sation is interesting to all ; he has many experi- ences and reminiscences well worth listening to.

SAMUEL RHOADES HOUSE, who has been a citizen of Denver, Colorado, for nearly twenty years, was identified with Painesville, Lake county, from his birth to 1890, and was at one time a leading Republican of Ohio. He was an ardent admirer of Garfield, served as a dele- gate to the electoral college which cast the for- mal presidential votes for Ohio's favorite son, and was a stanch supporter of the administra- tion so tragically terminated. Since going to Colorado, he has been especially prominent in religious work, the building and organization of the Corona church being largely due to his activity and generosity.

Mr. House was born in Leroy, Geauga county, Ohio, December 14, 1831, and married Miss Laura Morse, daugliter of Colonel John F. Morse, of Painesville. Colonel Morse was one of the most prominent Free Soilers of Ohio for many years before the Civil war. In 1848 he was representing his party in the state legislature and, with his colleague, Dr. Town- send, of Elyria, held the balance of power in that body. It was their votes, not only that year but later, which virtually sent Salmon P.

Chase to the United States senate. The colonel was government architect at New Orleans, for a number of years, and died at Painesville, in 1882, leaving a record both in political and social circles of which his many friends are proud.

John House, Jr., the father of Samuel R., was born at Chesterfield, Massachusetts, in 1802, and came to the Western Reserve in the thirties. At first he was a farmer of Leroy township, Geauga county, but at a later date became a general merchant of Painesville, where he died in 1890.

The children born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. House were seven in num- ber, of whom four are living. Mary, born Oc- tober 12, 1858, married Rev. George R. Mer- rill, who for a number of years has been pastor of the First Congregational church at Minne- apolis, Minnesota, and is the mother of Eunice, Robert, Laura and Marjorie. Edward L. House, the oldest son, born April 10, 1861, is the stirring business man of Painesville, pro- prietor of the Painesville Steam Laundry and Carpet Cleaning Works. His wife (nee Urania Holcomb) is a daughter of Henry Holcomb, the Civil war veteran, and was born August 9, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. House have no children of their own, but have an adopted danghter. Herbert G. House, the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel House, was born in Painesville, February 14, 1864, but is now a resident of Denver and member of the insur- ance and real estate firm of Samuel R. House & Son. He is married to Clara G. Robinson, of West Newton, Pennsylvania, and is the father of Katherine, Samuel, John, Margaret, Virginia and Urania. His son, Samuel, mar- ried Alma Pratt, daughter of F. P. and Estelle J. Pratt, the latter the noted vocalist and leader of choruses of the "Smith Family" of singers and at this date (1909) living in Colorado. Everett Jay House, assistant postmaster at Painesville, was born October 7, 1868; on De- cember 14, 1899, married Miss Alice C. Hen- dricks, of Erie, Pennsylvania, and their three children are Everett J., Jr., born in 1901; Eleanor G., born in 1903, and Laura C., born in 1906. The mother was born March 27, 1874.

EVERETT J. HOUSE, assistant postmaster at Painesville, Lake county, is the grandson of John House, Jr., and the son of Samuel R. House, who were both prominent in the mer- cantile and public activities of Lake county.

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The House family had been established in Massachusetts for several generations before entering into the development of the Western Reserve, the great-grandfather of Everett J. having been born in Hanover, that state, in 1774. His grandfather was a native of Ches- terfield, Massachusetts, born in 1801; came to Ohio about 1825 and settled in the township of Leroy, then a portion of Geauga county. There he followed his trade as a blacksmith until 1843, when he located at Painesville and pur- chased the point of land at the junction of State and Bank streets, erected a shop and operated it until 1850. He then sold his busi- ness and good will, and established a general store on State street, under the firm name of J. House & Son (Samuel R.). The business was successfully conducted for many years be- fore the dissolution of the partnership, the death of the senior occurring. in 1890. The de- ceased was at one time postmaster in Leroy township and after coming to Painesville was a prominent member of the First Congrega- tional church.

Samuel R. House is a native of Leroy town- ship, born in 1831, and after the dissolution of the firm of J. House & Co. served as treas- urer of Lake county for two terms. He was also councilman of Painesville for four years ; was chosen presidential elector in Garfield's district (the Nineteenth congressional), and was widely known as a leading insurance man. In 1905 he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he is now a leading dealer in mining stocks and bonds.

Everett J. House, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. House, was born in Paines- ville ; graduated from its high school in 1887 and from Adelbert College in 1891, and was appointed assistant postmaster of his native city August 1, 1899. He is an official of executive talents and a citizen of fine char- acter.

JACOB M. RUEDI .- During his years of activ- ity, Jacob M. Ruedi, late of Garrettsville, was closely identified with the agricultural inter- ests of Portage county, as general farmer hav- ing met with praiseworthy success. He was widely known throughout this section of Port- age county, and in his death, which occurred February 29, 1908, the community lost a citi- zen of value and worth. A man of high prin- ciples and exemplary habits, he was straight- forward and honest in all of his business deal- ings, and in his domestic life he was a kind husband, ever attentive to the welfare of his

household, where his kind presence was a daily benediction, and will ever be missed. A native of Portage county, he was born, January 21, 1857, in Atwater, three months after the death of his father, Jacob M. Ruedi, Sr., who came to this country from Switzerland, and while working for a railway company, was acci- dentally killed at Alliance, Ohio, when but twenty-three years of age.

Brought up in Geauga county, Ohio, Jacob M. Ruedi received a practical common-school education, making the very most of his lim- ited opportunities for acquiring knowledge. Thrown upon his resources when a boy, he steadily climbed the ladder of attainments, de- veloping his many good talents through a constant use of every faculty, early display- ing excellent business tact and ability. At the age of seventeen years he took up his resi- dence in Portage county, and thenceforward devoted his time and attention to agricul- tural pursuits. Becoming associated with his father-in-law, he carried on general farming until 1903, when failing health compelled him to give up active pursuits. Removing then to the beautiful residence which he had erected in Garrettsville, Mr. Ruedi continued to re- side in this city until his death. A man of quiet, unassuming manner, he made a host of friends, who will ever cherish his memory.

On April II, 1882, Mr. Ruedi married Jen- nie Wells, who was born in Portage county, a daughter of Frank Wells. Her grand- father, William Henry Wells, emigrated from Massachusetts, his place of birth, to the West- ern Reserve in pioneer times, locating in Port- age county. Frank Wells was born, bred, and spent his entire life in Portage county, his birth occurring in Freedom. He married Sophia A. Harris, who was born in Hiram, Portage county, the daughter of an early set- tler of that part of the county. She survived her husband, and is now living in Garretts- ville, with Mrs. Ruedi, her only child. They are esteemed and worthy of the respect ac- corded them by their neighbors and friends.

JOHN V. VANDERSLICE. - Possessing good business ability and judgment, earnest in pur- pose, and upright in his dealings, John V. Vanderslice holds an assured position among the enterprising and valued citizens of Gar- rettsville, Portage county, where, as a miller, he is intimately associated with the advance- ment of its industrial prosperity. A son of Benjamin Vanderslice, he was born, Novem-

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ber 4, 1844, in Montgomery county, Pennsyl- vania, of Dutch descent, the emigrant ancestor of his family having come to the United States from Holland in colonial days.

Benjamin Vanderslice was born and bred in the Keystone state, where during his earlier life he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1862 he came with his family to the West- ern Reserve, locating in Geauga county, where he resided until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. He married Lydia Llewellyn, who was born in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, of Welsh ancestry. She, tco, attained a ripe old age, living to be upwards of four score years of age. Fifteen children were born' of their union, fourteen of whom grew to years of maturity, married, and reared fam- ilies. Nine are now, in 1909, living, John V. being the eighth child in order of birth, and the fifth son.

About seventeen years old when he came to Ohio, John V. Vanderslice secured work in Mantua, Portage county, in what was then called Mud Mill, where he was employed a year and a half. Going then to Parkman, Geauga county, he worked for nine months in a flour mill, after which he was in the en- ploy of the government at Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, for a year. The ensuing year Mr. Vanderslice spent in Geauga county. Return- ing then to his native state, he was there en- gaged in milling, and also assisted in develop- ing some of the first oil wells sunk in that part of Pennsylvania. In 1886, Mr. Vander- slice located in Garrettsville, becoming a part owner of the Garrettsville Flour Mill, one of the first plants of the kind established in Port- age county. It was built originally in 1804. was rebuilt in 1847, and in 1894, four years after becoming its sole proprietor, Mr. Van- derslice rebuilt it, enlarged its capacity to sixty barrels of flour per day, and has now one of the best equipped plants of the kind in this part of the state.

Mr. Vanderslice married, in 1880, Lavinia J. Hilliard, who was born and brought up in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of four children, all daughters, namely: L. Ersilla; Lydia L., wife of E. J. Russell, of Sharon, Pennsylvania; Ida E .; and Elma V. Politically, Mr. Vanderslice is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party, and takes much interest in public affairs. He is not an officeseeker, but has been a member of the city council since 1900. He is a member of the Masonic fra-

ternity, belonging to the blue lodge and to the chapter.

CHARLES C. JENKINS, a very successful busi- ness man and prominent citizen of Wil- loughby, was born September 27, 1840, in Mentor, and is a son of John Jr. and Cyrene (Huntoon) Jenkins ; his grandfather was also named John Jenkins. John Jenkins Jr. worked some time for Grandison Newell, the famous opposer of Mormonism, and later purchased a foundry of Charles Newell, of Mentor, where the family was located, and manufac- tured plows until after the Civil war, when he sold out and removed to Willoughby. Soon afterward he started a foundry and subse- quently a planing mill, in partnership with his son Charles, and engaged in the manufactur- ing of plows at Willoughby until about 1869, when Charles C. Jenkins, bought the business. It was located on the rear of a lot on Euclid. but a few years later removed to its present location along the Lake Shore Railroad. Dur- ing the last sixteen years it has been operated as a planing mill in connection with a lumber yard. Mr. Jenkins married a daughter of Scribner Huntoon, born in Concord township, and they had three children who lived to ma- turity, namely: B. F., a carpenter residing in Mentor ; Violet married F. E. Wasson, of Painesville; and Charles C. Mr. Jenkins died at the age of ninety-one years, having been seriously afflicted for years; his wife died at the age of eighty.

Charles C. Jenkins served three years in the Civil war, in the Eighty-eighth Ohio Infantry, Company C, being detailed to Camp Chase. a parole camp, to a prison camp, and also did considerable clerical work. Before going into partnership with father in the foundry and planing mill, he spent four years in Cleveland. He is a man of business acumen and enter- prise, and has devoted his chief energies to the advancement of his commercial interests. by which he has gained a gratifying measure of success. However, he has time from liis business responsibilities to interest himself in the public welfare, and he has served since 1872, a period of thirty-seven years, in the office of township and village clerk.

GILMAN A. WOODWORTH. - A highly es- teemed resident of Ashtabula county, and a prominent member of its agricultural com- munity, owning and occupying 'a good farm near Geneva, Gilman A. Woodworth is a

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worthy representative of those courageous pio- neers who settled in the county in the days of its infancy, and were active in its development and subsequent growth. A son of the late Elijah Woodworth, he was born, August 20, 1861, on the home farm near Conneaut, this county.

His grandfather, Lothrop Woodworth, came with his family from Connecticut to Ohio in 1818, and settled in Ashtabula county. He was a carpenter and builder by trade, and in this new country his work was in constant de- mand. He improved a homestead, and was employed in carpentering and farming until his death, when but little past the prime of life. His wife survived him, dying at the age of eighty years. They reared six children, as follows: Elijah; Milton died in Conneaut, at an advanced age; Almon also died in Con- neaut ; Lothrop, deceased ; Jane, deceased ; and Cordelia, deceased.

Elijah Woodworth was born, June 10, 1808, in Salisbury, Connecticut, and died in Con- neaut, Ashtabula county, Ohio, November 28, 1900. A lad of ten years when he came with the family to the Western Reserve, he wit- nessed many wonderful changes in the face of the country during his four score and more years of residence here. In those early days school houses, churches and costly residences were conspicuous only by their absence; there were neither railways, telegraphs nor telephone lines, few, if any, evidences of civilization being then evident; while now flourishing towns and cities and magnificent agricultural regions have usurped the place of the forest, the fertile acres round about yielding abun- dantly and to spare. He grew to manhood in the open, became a great hunter and fisher, and every winter for years would go into Upper Michigan, where he has killed hundreds of deer, taking these trips until past eighty years old. As a young man, he was employed in the fishery business, which he found profit- able, owning his own fishing vessels, which went up the lakes as far as Mackinac, in search of fish. Later he was extensively en- gaged in mercantile pursuits in Conneaut.

After the war, Elijah Woodworth purchased two hundred and twenty acres of land adjoin- ing Conneaut, and in the years that followed made many and valuable improvements, ren- dering it one of the very best and most attract- ive estates in the whole county. He erected substantial buildings of all needed kinds, in-

stalled the most modern farm machinery, and in addition to carrying on general farming was largely engaged in dairying and stock raising. He had also other interests, in company with his brother being engaged in shipbuilding, and until well advanced in years managed his own affairs, retaining full control of his varied interests until almost ninety years old. His farm was sold in 1900 to the steel company for $77,000, the largest price ever paid for a farm in this locality. He never forgot old New England, but from early life until old age, even when eighty-five years old, would visit Connecticut, usually going once a year, but occasionally making two trips. He was not especially interested in politics, but he was a man of generous impulses, very charitable, and gave much to the poor.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 25

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 886

Author: Upton, Harriet Taylor; Cutler, Harry Gardner, 1856-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago ; New York : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 886